Sump Maintenance

1.  Charging your coolant sump.

2.  Coolant dilution.

3.  Sump Maintenance.

1.  Charging your coolant sump.

1. DRAIN OLD COOLANT FROM SUMP:
   Drain sump and all coolant lines.  Take care to dispose of "old" coolant according to all Federal, State and local laws. 
    
2. CLEAN SUMP:
   BEST METHOD: This method will ensure proper cleanout of machine and is recommended to be performed annually or bi-annually.
       Fill sump with water.  Add sump cleaner, NuGenTec SuperGreen, at 5% by volume of water. Add Bactericide, NuGenTec BugKIll, at 8 oz per 40 gallon sump.  Re-circulate for 30 to 120 minutes.  Flush system.  Rinse 1 to 3 times, to ensure cleaner is removed from system.  Repeat if needed.
   
   SIMPLE METHOD: This is a quick and dirty method and is not usually recommended.
       Fill sump with water.  Re-circulate and flush system.  Repeat if needed.
    
3. Re-FILL SUMP WITH FRESH COOLANT (do this as soon as possible, after cleaning, to prevent rusting):
   Add water first, then add coolant.  See table below for Mixing chart:

   
   SUMPS: Add this much coolant, in gallons, for every # of gallons listed below

   %	10 gallon Sumps	20 gallon Sumps	50 gallon Sumps	75 gallon Sumps	100 gallon Sumps
   2%	0.2	0.4	1.0	1.50	2
   3%	0.3	0.6	1.5	2.25	3
   4%	0.4	0.8	2.0	3.00	4
   5%	0.5	1.0	2.5	3.75	5
   6%	0.6	1.2	3.0	4.50	6
   7%	0.7	1.4	3.5	5.25	7
   8%	0.8	1.6	4.0	6.00	8
   9%	0.9	1.8	4.5	6.75	9
   10%	1.0	2.0	5.0	7.50	10
   11%	1.1	2.2	5.5	8.25	11
   12%	1.2	2.4	6.0	9.00	12
   13%	1.3	2.6	6.5	9.75	13
   14%	1.4	2.8	7.0	10.50	14
   15%	1.5	3.0	7.5	11.25	15
   16%	1.6	3.2	8.0	12.00	16
   17%	1.7	3.4	8.5	12.75	17
   18%	1.8	3.6	9.0	13.50	18
   19%	1.9	3.8	9.5	14.25	19
   20%	2.0	4.0	10.0	15.00	20

   Mix coolant into solution well, especially with soluble oils.  Re-circulate the coolant for at least 15 minutes. 
    

2.  Coolant dilution:

1. Dilute with water (water first) at these typical concentrations:
   10 to 1    Sawing, tapping, threading
   20 to 1    Turning, milling, most CNC operations 
   30 to 1    grinding
    
2. Flood machine with fresh coolant to prevent rusting.
    

3.  Sump Maintenance:  (see more detail here: Coolant Management)

1. Make sure to have enough coolant in sump, never run concentration too low.
2. Remove floating tramp oils and hydraulic oils regularly.  This will greatly reduce rancidity "odor" problems.
3. Keep out foreign Matter:  Dirt, debris, trash, metal fines, etc.
4. Check coolant concentration on a regular basis. 
5. Add fresh coolant with water to make up for evaporation losses. Even if just at lower concentrations.
6. Aerate Coolant, this helps keep bacterial levels lower.  Air bubblers and re-circulating pumps do a good job with this.
7. For longer sump life use higher purity water.  Sumps build up hard water with constant additions from evaporation.  This is more important in larger central systems then in individual sump systems.
8. Make sure you are using the correct coolant for you equipment and operations.